If there’s one constant in the 20 years that we’ve been in business, it’s change. Interest rates rise and fall, regulation evolves, technology transforms how deals get done and client expectations shift with every generation. Navigating that change, without losing sight of what matters, is one of the biggest challenges facing anyone in financial services today. Here’s how we think about it.
Keep an eye on the economic backdrop
The last few years have been a lesson in how quickly the ground can shift. Inflation and interest rates have moved more and faster, than many businesses expected and that has a direct impact on affordability, appetite for borrowing and the kind of finance that makes sense for a business at any given moment. Understanding where the wider economy is heading and what that means for lending conditions, is fundamental to giving clients advice that actually holds up.
Stay ahead of regulatory change
Financial services regulation is not standing still. The FCA’s Consumer Duty, which came into force in 2023, continues to shape how firms are expected to treat customers, with ongoing reviews into product design and consumer outcomes still being rolled out. At the same time, the FCA has been pursuing a “growth agenda,” trying to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden while keeping consumer protection intact and other reforms, from the regulation of Buy Now Pay Later products to wider changes stemming from the Leeds Reforms, are reshaping different corners of the industry.
None of this is a reason to be nervous about regulation. If anything, it’s a reason to stay close to it. The firms that treat regulatory change as a box-ticking exercise tend to fall behind. The ones that build it properly into how they operate tend to find it becomes a genuine advantage, because clients notice when they’re being treated fairly and transparently.
Embrace the technology, carefully
AI and automation are transforming financial services at real speed, from faster credit decisions to automated document processing that used to take days can now taking minutes. For SMEs in particular, faster access to finance can be the difference between seizing an opportunity and missing it, and lenders who invest in these tools are increasingly able to offer that speed.
The trick is using technology to remove friction, not relationships. The businesses getting this right are using automation for the repetitive, administrative parts of the process, while keeping real conversations at the centre of the advice itself. Get that balance wrong, in either direction and you risk either being too slow to compete, or too impersonal to be trusted.
Diversify how you think about lending
The finance industry isn’t just banks anymore. Alternative lenders, peer-to-business platforms and specialist finance providers have all grown their share of the market in recent years, often filling gaps left by more traditional, risk-averse high street lending. For businesses and advisors alike, understanding this wider landscape, rather than defaulting to the most obvious option, is increasingly what separates good advice from average advice.
Never lose the human element
With everything changing around us, from rates to regulation to the rise of AI, the one thing that hasn’t changed and never will, is that businesses are run by people and people want to feel understood. The advisors and brokers who thrive through periods of change are the ones who keep listening, keep asking the right questions and keep treating every client’s situation as unique, rather than trying to fit them into whatever process is fastest or easiest.
Our approach after 20 years
We’ve navigated plenty of change over the past two decades and if there’s one lesson we’d pass on, it’s this, “don’t try to predict every shift the industry will take, because you won’t get it right every time. Instead, build a business that’s genuinely built around your clients, stay curious about the tools and trends reshaping the industry and keep the conversation at the heart of what you do. Do that, and you’ll be able to navigate whatever comes next”.
About The Author
Chris Morris, Managing Director
Chris is the co-founder and Managing Director of NGI Finance, running the business day to day since setting it up in 2005. Before NGI, he spent 20 years at Lloyds Bank, where he ran a £200 million Asset Finance business across the South East.
